Los Angeles Dodgers: How Well Did Ned Colletti Do at the Winter Meetings?

Needless to say, the drama-enriched baseball world (especially Hollywood-loving Dodgers fans) were pretty disappointed by Ned Colletti's efforts in Nashville this week.

He got a couple low-class Rule 5 pickups, lost Alfredo Silverio in that draft, flirted with Zach Greinke, had a full-on affair with A.J. Pierzynski, and tried to rid the team of Dee Gordon.

But nothing actually materialized. Yawn.

And the two most promising potential moves have stalled—Greinke is now being picky about location over money (who does that these days?), and Hyun-Jin Ryu wants far more money than the Dodgers are willing to offer.

These revelations, coupled with an unsatisfied hunger for big news from my favorite team, brought about a few mental tug-of-wars for yours truly over the past few days.

As a Dodgers fan, I don't want to see Gordon shipped off, but it was reported that the Mariners had the most interest. In that case, I'm ready to bid farewell to Gordon, Zach Lee, Joc Pederson and the rest of the farm system if that's what it takes to land Felix Hernandez.

With Greinke—as the week rolled on—reports seemed to peg him as favoring the Texas Rangers more than the spotlight of Los Angeles, but the Dodgers remain in talks with him.

Would you trade Gordon and Lee for Felix Hernandez or R.A. Dickey?

AbsolutelyMaybe - if more players are involvedDefinitely notSubmit Votevote to see results

Would you trade Gordon and Lee for Felix Hernandez or R.A. Dickey?

Absolutely

70.5%

Maybe - if more players are involved

17.6%

Definitely not

11.9%

Total votes: 1,738

The positions I thought the Dodgers needed to upgrade most were bench-role hitters (at least one), preferably two starting pitchers and another left-handed reliever.

So you can imagine I was pained to find out that last year's midseason acquisition and free agent Randy Choate had signed with the St. Louis Cardinals.

I don't know how much effort Colletti will put into getting a southpaw for the bullpen, with the market extremely thin—it might take another Paco Rodriguez case to fill the spot from within.

As for a little insurance off the bench, the Dodgers had been in contact with Skip Schumaker, who would be a great fit as a backup middle infielder and pinch hitter. That being said, I'd prefer they also go out and grab a veteran pinch-hitting specialist like Eric Chavez or Jim Thome.

The rotation is where the biggest worries lie, and short of signing Greinke or trading for Hernandez or James Shields, the choices become limited.

The Dodgers had "checked in" on everyone from Dickey to Kyle Lohse to Anibal Sanchez over the past week, which is a great sign.

This at least means Colletti is getting serious with his pursuit of bulking up the starting rotation.

If he can land one of the pitchers mentioned above, and then maybe score another Aaron Harang-type out of the free-agent pool, fans should be very comfortable with the rotation in 2013.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Yes, the Dodgers would be one arm away from having an elite rotation, but Clayton Kershaw, Josh Beckett and Chad Billingsley is a good start—add in a couple above-average to solid starters, and that's a formidable five.

Though the amount of news was surprisingly low on the Dodgers front during the Winter Meetings, you can rest assured that Colletti won't stop wheeling and dealing this winter.

With the hefty payroll, chances are we'll be seeing quite a few new names ink their signatures to a contract with the Dodgers in the coming weeks and months.